Conservatives always whine about bleeding heart liberals. Liberals never met a cause they didn't want to support. It feels right to support causes. Today in South Carolina we have a good example of how difficult it can be to cut programs, that need to go. WIS reports that the head of Project Faith is warning Governor Sanford and the State House that their decision to cut that program will result in thousands of deaths and even more dollars to the SC taxpayers. Project Faith works with churches to prevent the spread of HIV. "For the health of this state, for the benefit of tax payers and for the economy, if you want to save lives and save money, you've got to prevent a disease like HIV," says Dr Gaddist the head of the program.
Are the Republicans so cold hearted, so short sighted that they will cut this program to balance the budget this year and put our young people at greater risk of contracting HIV? 39 Churches are going to ask lawmakers to not cut Project Faith because it's too important. Especially because statistics show South Carolina ranks 9th in the nation in the rate of newly diagnosed cases of aids. Nearly 1,600 people were newly diagnosed with HIV last year in the state. The story doesn't contain a response from Governor Sanford or any of the reps who voted to cut it for 09.
The response needs to be, we care too much about our future to keep funding a program that has proven that it doesn't work. SC is the 24th most populous state with a little under 4.5 million people. If the program was at all effective we'd be ranked around 20th or less with new AIDS diagnosis. If the program was working we should be less than 30th. Instead we're neck and neck with Georgia who has over 9 million residents and Pennsylvania with over 12 million residents. How can a program say it's working when we have the same amount of AIDS cases per year with 1/3 the amount of people living here? Let's be honest with ourselves. This program was started in the late 90's with the hope that government could somehow effect peoples behavior. I don't believe that the government is either responsible or successful at protecting it's citizens from themselves. When we spend money on it, we spend it poorly. SC has spent millions of dollars in attempting educate people about poor eating habits. Yet we're always near the top of any list that ranks, heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes etc. So the fact that we're near the top of an HIV list isn't shocking. It's sad, and needs to be addressed, but this project since it was officially funded by South Carolina in 2001 has had no measurable effect. We have hovered around the top 10 before and after their creation. I can't speak on their methods, because I have no idea what they do. But the results speak for themselves. So sadly, this project must be cut. I say sadly because of course I wished it would work. I wish no family had to suffer the heartbreak of HIV, or the nightmare of AIDS. If we could write a check and make it go away I believe all conservatives would sign up for that. But in very few instances has a government anywhere had the ability to change the behavior of free people. So it's not that Republicans aren't concerned about the spread of HIV/AIDS it's just that spending money doesn't fix the problem, it only makes us feel better about ourselves that we tried. The citizens of SC know that abstinence from sex is the only 100% guarantee. If they do have sex to wear a condom. We also know that eating Maurice's BBQ will raise our cholesterol, and watching the Gamecocks will give us heart attacks. Yet we do what we want, and sometimes regret it later. That's what the pursuit of happiness is all about. The possability that the pursuit will kill you, is the individules decision, not the states.
Are the Republicans so cold hearted, so short sighted that they will cut this program to balance the budget this year and put our young people at greater risk of contracting HIV? 39 Churches are going to ask lawmakers to not cut Project Faith because it's too important. Especially because statistics show South Carolina ranks 9th in the nation in the rate of newly diagnosed cases of aids. Nearly 1,600 people were newly diagnosed with HIV last year in the state. The story doesn't contain a response from Governor Sanford or any of the reps who voted to cut it for 09.
The response needs to be, we care too much about our future to keep funding a program that has proven that it doesn't work. SC is the 24th most populous state with a little under 4.5 million people. If the program was at all effective we'd be ranked around 20th or less with new AIDS diagnosis. If the program was working we should be less than 30th. Instead we're neck and neck with Georgia who has over 9 million residents and Pennsylvania with over 12 million residents. How can a program say it's working when we have the same amount of AIDS cases per year with 1/3 the amount of people living here? Let's be honest with ourselves. This program was started in the late 90's with the hope that government could somehow effect peoples behavior. I don't believe that the government is either responsible or successful at protecting it's citizens from themselves. When we spend money on it, we spend it poorly. SC has spent millions of dollars in attempting educate people about poor eating habits. Yet we're always near the top of any list that ranks, heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes etc. So the fact that we're near the top of an HIV list isn't shocking. It's sad, and needs to be addressed, but this project since it was officially funded by South Carolina in 2001 has had no measurable effect. We have hovered around the top 10 before and after their creation. I can't speak on their methods, because I have no idea what they do. But the results speak for themselves. So sadly, this project must be cut. I say sadly because of course I wished it would work. I wish no family had to suffer the heartbreak of HIV, or the nightmare of AIDS. If we could write a check and make it go away I believe all conservatives would sign up for that. But in very few instances has a government anywhere had the ability to change the behavior of free people. So it's not that Republicans aren't concerned about the spread of HIV/AIDS it's just that spending money doesn't fix the problem, it only makes us feel better about ourselves that we tried. The citizens of SC know that abstinence from sex is the only 100% guarantee. If they do have sex to wear a condom. We also know that eating Maurice's BBQ will raise our cholesterol, and watching the Gamecocks will give us heart attacks. Yet we do what we want, and sometimes regret it later. That's what the pursuit of happiness is all about. The possability that the pursuit will kill you, is the individules decision, not the states.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment